Surnames were first acquired from vocations and other marks of individuality. John, the smith, soon became John Smith. So He who was to be called Jesus, and whose vocation was to save men from their sins, was called Jesus, the Christ; and, a little later, Jesus Christ. We know the significance of that surname to be synonymous with the Hebrew "Messiah," and to mean "anointed:" i.e. Jesus, the Anointed One.
Anointing with aromatic oils was one of the many form of Eastern symbolism, and by it the peculiar consecration of a priest, or king, when first installed in office, was expressed, and the rite is still used most impressively at the coronation of a Russian czar. As Bible is only biblum, a book, but means to us "the one book of all books," so Christus, the Anointed, stands for us as "Jesus, the Consecrated and Sanctified above all others."
Let us remember its significance in reference to ourselves. In the spiritual realm, we are called by the surname of our Elder Brother, the great Head of the whole family in heaven and earth.
